The politics of greed is what keeps this world wrapped in corruption. If you want to stick around for a while longer, I suggest you educate yourself and try to do something constructive to help save what little good, honesty, and trust we have left.

A motto for us old vets: Take one with you!

Use your Go Back and Go Forward commands to get to where you were in a previous file.

Go to Home

Highest Go To numbers are the latest Links of all coruption pages.


Go to 13122
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=8109
GAO: Millions Wasted On Govt Cards
04-08-2008
AP

Federal employees charged millions of dollars for Internet dating, tailor-made suits, lingerie, lavish dinners and other questionable expenses to their government credit cards over a 15-month period, congressional auditors say.

A report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, examined spending controls across the federal government following reports of credit-card abuse at departments including Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

The review of card spending at more than a dozen departments from 2005 to 2006 found that nearly 41 percent of roughly $14 billion in credit-card purchases, whether legitimate or questionable, did not follow procedure — either because they were not properly authorized or they had not been signed for by an independent third party as called for in federal rules to deter fraud.

For purchases over $2,500, nearly half — or 48 percent — were unauthorized or improperly received.

Out of a sample of purchases totaling $2.7 million, the government could not account for hundreds of laptop computers, iPods and digital cameras worth more than $1.8 million. In one case, the U.S. Army could not say what happened to computer items making up 16 server configurations, each of which cost nearly $100,000.

Agencies often could not provide the required paperwork to justify questionable purchases. Investigators also found that federal employees sometimes double-billed or improperly expensed lavish meals and Internet dating for many months without question from supervisors; the charges were often noticed only after auditors or whistle-blowers raised questions.

"Breakdowns in internal controls over the use of purchase cards leave the government highly vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse," investigators wrote, calling the governmentwide failure rate in enforcing controls "unacceptably high."

"This audit demonstrates that continued vigilance over purchase card use is necessary," the 57-page report stated.

The report calls for the General Services Administration and Office of Management and Budget, both of which help administer the government's credit-card program, to set guidance to improve accounting for purchased items, particularly Palm Pilots, iPods and other electronic equipment that could be easily stolen.

OMB and GSA were also urged to tighten controls over convenience checks, which are a part of the credit-card program, and to remind federal employees that they will be held responsible for any items if the purchases are later deemed improper.

In response, both OMB and GSA agreed with portions of the report. But GSA administrator Lurita Doan noted the vast majority of federal employees use their cards properly and that many oversight measures already are in place. She acknowledged there is room for improvement but added that by using purchase cards the federal government saves about $1.8 billion in administrative costs each year.

"We agree that no level of abuse or misuse is acceptable," Doan wrote.

The GAO study comes amid increasing scrutiny of purchase cards, which are used by 300,000 federal employees and are directly payable by the U.S. government.

The AP reported Sunday that VA employees last year racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in government credit-card bills at casino and luxury hotels, movie theaters and high-end retailers such as Sharper Image. Government auditors have been investigating these and similar charges, citing past spending abuses.

In Tuesday's report, investigators did not seek to determine the extent of fraud or waste at each agency. They cited numerous cases of questionable spending, which they said represented what could be found government-wide, including the VA.

"The purchase card is a useful tool for the government, and in no way are we suggesting it shouldn't continue to be used widely," said Gregory D. Kutz, GAO's managing director of forensic audits and special investigations, in a telephone interview. "However, I would say these cases once again show that lack of internal controls cost taxpayers millions of dollars and thus continued focus is needed on improving these controls."

Among the expenditures cited in the report:

_An Agriculture Department employee fraudulently wrote 180 convenience checks for more than $642,000 to a live-in boyfriend over a six-year period. The money was used for gambling, car and mortgage payments, dinners and retail purchases that went unnoticed until USDA's inspector general received a tip from a whistle-blower. The employee, who pleaded guilty to embezzlement and tax fraud charges, was sentenced last year to 21 months in prison and ordered to repay the money.

_U.S. Postal Service workers separately billed more than $14,000 to government credit cards for Internet dating services and a dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Orlando, Fla., for 81 people at a cost of $160 each for steaks and crab. The dinner bill also included more than 200 appetizers and more than $3,000 worth of wine and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold.

In the Internet dating case, a postmaster charged $1,100 over 15 months for two online services, including the Ashley Madison Agency. The expenses went unnoticed for more than a year even though he was under internal investigation for viewing pornography on a government computer. The postmaster was eventually told to repay the Internet charges but faced no disciplinary action.

_At the Pentagon, four employees purchased $77,700 in clothing and accessories at high-end clothing and sporting goods stores. The spending included more than $45,000 at Brooks Brothers and similar stores for tailor-made suits — $7,000 of which were purchased a week before Christmas. The credit-card holders said the items were for service members working at U.S. embassies with civilian attire. Pentagon rules allow purchases of civilian clothing when performing official duty, but generally only up to $860 per person.

_Justice Department and FBI employees charged $11,000 at a Ritz Carlton hotel for coffee and "light" refreshments for 50 to 70 attendees for four days, averaging about $50 per person. Seventy percent of the total conference cost of $15,000 was for the food and beverages, while audiovisual and other support services totaled only about $4,000, or 30 percent of the charges. It was not clear what action, if any, that Justice took in light of the conference expenses, which GAO deemed excessive.

_At the State Department, one credit-card holder bought $360 worth of women's lingerie at Seduccion Boutique for use during jungle training by trainees of a drug enforcement program in Ecuador. One State Department official later agreed that the charge was questionable and stated that he would not have approved the purchase had he known about it.

"Too many government employees have viewed purchase cards as their personal line of credit," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on investigations, which requested the GAO report. "When money that was intended to pay for critical infrastructure, education and homeland security is instead being spent on iPods, lingerie and socializing, we must immediately remedy the problem."

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the investigations subcommittee, agreed. "Although internal controls over government credit cards have improved, we still have a long way to go to stop the fraudulent use of these cards," he said.



Go to 13121
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/08/iraq.usa
Secret US plan for military future in IraqDocument outlines powers but sets no time limit on troop presence
Seumas Milne The Guardian, Tuesday April 8 2008

A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended military presence in the country.

The draft strategic framework agreement between the US and Iraqi governments, dated March 7 and marked "secret" and "sensitive", is intended to replace the existing UN mandate and authorises the US to "conduct military operations in Iraq and to detain individuals when necessary for imperative reasons of security" without time limit.

The authorisation is described as "temporary" and the agreement says the US "does not desire permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq". But the absence of a time limit or restrictions on the US and other coalition forces - including the British - in the country means it is likely to be strongly opposed in Iraq and the US.

Iraqi critics point out that the agreement contains no limits on numbers of US forces, the weapons they are able to deploy, their legal status or powers over Iraqi citizens, going far beyond long-term US security agreements with other countries. The agreement is intended to govern the status of the US military and other members of the multinational force.

Following recent clashes between Iraqi troops and Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army in Basra, and threats by the Iraqi government to ban his supporters from regional elections in the autumn, anti-occupation Sadrists and Sunni parties are expected to mount strong opposition in parliament to the agreement, which the US wants to see finalised by the end of July. The UN mandate expires at the end of the year.

One well-placed Iraqi Sunni political source said yesterday: "The feeling in Baghdad is that this agreement is going to be rejected in its current form, particularly after the events of the last couple of weeks. The government is more or less happy with it as it is, but parliament is a different matter."

It is also likely to prove controversial in Washington, where it has been criticised by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has accused the administration of seeking to tie the hands of the next president by committing to Iraq's protection by US forces.

The defence secretary, Robert Gates, argued in February that the planned agreement would be similar to dozens of "status of forces" pacts the US has around the world and would not commit it to defend Iraq. But Democratic Congress members, including Senator Edward Kennedy, a senior member of the armed services committee, have said it goes well beyond other such agreements and amounts to a treaty, which has to be ratified by the Senate under the constitution.

Administration officials have conceded that if the agreement were to include security guarantees to Iraq, it would have to go before Congress. But the leaked draft only states that it is "in the mutual interest of the United States and Iraq that Iraq maintain its sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence and that external threats to Iraq be deterred. Accordingly, the US and Iraq are to consult immediately whenever the territorial integrity or political independence of Iraq is threatened."

Significantly - given the tension between the US and Iran, and the latter's close relations with the Iraqi administration's Shia parties - the draft agreement specifies that the "US does not seek to use Iraq territory as a platform for offensive operations against other states".

General David Petraeus, US commander in Iraq, is to face questioning from all three presidential candidates on Capitol Hill today when he reports to the Senate on his surge strategy, which increased US forces in Iraq by about 30,000 last year.

Both Clinton and Democratic rival Barack Obama are committed to beginning troop withdrawals from Iraq. Republican senator John McCain has pledged to maintain troop levels until the country is secure.



Go to 13120
http://www.realjewnews.com/?p=57
HARVARD JEWS LOOT RUSSIA

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM FELL in 1991. The Jews could not wait to sink their greedy claws into the new scenario in Russia. Jeffrey Sachs, who at that time was a Professor of Economics at Harvard University, was one of these Jews.

Jeffrey Sachs saw an opportunity that he and his Jewish buddies just could not pass up.The Jew Jeffrey Sachs and his Jewish buddies, set themselves up as advisors and investors to “help” Russia from their perches of the financial and political world of the West.

But their Jewish agenda was not to help Russia, but to rape Russia once again, just as their Jewish counterparts did with their international socialist program when sovietizing Russia in the early 20th Century. But now, Jeffrey Sachs and his Jewish buddies were going to do it with their international capitalist system. Privatization was both theirs and Russia’s new watchword.

Sachs teamed up with his Harvard colleague, the Jew David Lipton, and Yegor Gaidar, a Russian Jew, who became Yeltsin’s first prime minister. Sachs , Lipton, and Gaidar initiated a plan which they called economic shock therapy to eliminate subsidies and price controls that had kept the Russian economy stable for decades. What was the result of this shock therapy? Hyperinflation.

Just as planned, the hyperinflation wiped out the capital reserves of Russian factories, banks, utilities, and all other institutions. This eliminated any chance for real Russian competition in the bidding for Russian assets which was about to begin.

The Russian institutions and manufacturing facilities were now eager to turn their assets into cash, playing into the hands of Sachs, Lipton, and Gaidar Because the value of rubles was now at an all time low, they wanted Western currency. Under the cover of international banking loans, (Jewish bankers of course), Sachs and friends began to buy out Russian companies at next-to-nothing prices.


THE JEWISH OLIGARCHS OF RUSSIA, as they began to be called, did not completely get away with their looting. Here is a list of some of these Jews who looted Russia and their resultant status:

1. Jeffrey Sachs: After being exposed for making a “killing” off of the privatization of Russia, he was allowed by Harvard to quietly leave and take a professorship at the Jewish-run Columbia University in NY.

2. Yegor Gaidar: In 1993 he came under attack by the Russian people for his alliance with Sachs. Fearing a Putin investigation, he fled Russia and presently lives in Ireland.

3. Boris Berzovsky: After grabbing many media institutions and a major television station during the looting in the early 1990’s, Putin finally caught up with him and initiated an investigation. He then fled to England.

4. Vladimir Gusinksy. He took control of many Russian banks during the looting. He was the leader of the Russian Jewish Congress. Now in exile in Greece, the Russian Courts are trying to have him extradited for his shady business dealings.

5. Mikhail Khodorkovsky: He bought majority stakes in Yukos oil company for practically nothing during the looting. Putin caught up with him and put him in jail in 2005.

ALL OF THESE JEWS BELONG IN JAIL, and for that matter, all of the Jews who are “looting” our once Christian culture with their Anti-Christian activities. I grew up as a Jew and I wish to inform all of my readers that most Jews care only about themselves and nothing for the Gentile societies in which they reside or can make a profit from.



Go to 13119
http://www.realjewnews.com/?p=61
JEWISH SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN & FELLOW JEWS FLEECE U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE 24 MILLION FROM HOMELAND SECURITY TAX PAYER’S MONIES!
JEWISH SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN GIVES GIFTS TO JEWISH FRIENDS!

JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS the Maimonides School in Washington D.C. and the Jewish Family Services in Baltimore have received the lion’s share of Anti Terrorist funding by the Homeland Security Department. And guess who runs America’s Homeland Security Department? The Jewish Senator, Joseph Lieberman (Conn.) heads Homeland Security, that’s who! And gelt, (money in Jewish) is spread amongst his Jewish friends!

And by the way, Lieberman is a religious, Orthodox Jew, whose priorities are Jewish not American, as is evident by the preponderance of Homeland Security monies being given to all of these wealthy Jewish organizations rather than Christian organizations.

Many Americans are not aware that their tax monies have gone to these wealthy Jews. This is because the Jewish-controlled media did not publish articles about it. Only local newspapers throughout the US sporadically published the news.

Only a few local papers picked up the story as well as the non-American Ha’ Aretz News Israeli News Agency @ Jewish Organizations Receive Millions. This is another example of the Jewish-control of Washington vis a vis the Jewish-controlled Media.

If Americans knew about this they would be disgusted that millions of dollars of their hard-earned monies have gone to the wealthiest people in America who happen to hate Christianity, America’s founding-religion.


~ Here is a partial list that I compiled of the wealthy Jewish organizations that received millions in tax payers money:

a) $100,000 for the Jewish Federation of Seattle;
b) $100,000 for Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation of Seattle;
c) $100,000 for the Stroum Jewish Community Center of Seattle;
d) $74,944 for the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle;
e) $71,355 for Jewish Family Service of Seattle;
f) $96,305 to be divided amongst The King David School of Phoenix Arizona, Phoenix Jewish Day School, Phoenix Hebrew Academy and Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School;
g) $97,475 to the Jewish Community Services Center in Tucson Arizona;
h) $900,000 to 19 Jewish organizations in New York and Marlyand, including individual congregations and institutions such as the Jewish Museum of Maryland and the Maimonides Academy of Baltimore.
i) $100,000 to Jewish Organizations In New Jersey including United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ and Chabad Lubavitch Center Of Northwest New Jersey. Et Cetera & Et Cetera!

SEE For Example: Homeland Security Funds Jewish Organizations
AND: New Jersey Jewish News

AND SEE: Lieberman Loves Lox And Bagels

BOTTOM LINE:Jews are now in full control of American political life with over 15 Jewish Senators and 35 Jews in Congress, with big Jewish money and influence backing their Anti-Christian agendas. What must we do to stop this jewification of America?

We must insist that Jews in political realms put America’s interests first, and not Zionism, curtailment of free speech, and their Jewish promotion of homosexuality and lesbianism.



Go to 13118
http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=664
Recipe for Catastrophe: Climate, Fuel, and Food
By Rowan Wolf

4/8/08

Food riots turn deadly in Haiti. Food riots fear after rice price hits a high. And so it starts. Globally there has been roughly a 25% increase in food prices. In some areas - such as Haiti - food prices have increased almost 50% in the last year. The poor of the planet who always live on the razor’s edge of survival, are getting hit by multiple blows aimed directly at the food supply.

From subsistence farmers eating rice in Ecuador to gourmets feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India.

The world’s poorest nations still harbor the greatest hunger risk. Clashes over bread in Egypt killed at least two people last week, and similar food riots broke out in Burkina Faso and Cameroon this month.

But food protests now crop up even in Italy. And while the price of spaghetti has doubled in Haiti, the cost of miso is packing a hit in Japan.

—Food prices rising across the world

This didn’t start with the current economic crisis which comes with the so-called “mortgage crisis.” It doesn’t start with the recent sky rocketing increase in oil and gasoline. It started with the U.S. turn to bio-fuels production. It has been accelerated by multiple other issues.


The U.S. bio-fuels incentives put not just the U.S. food supply, but the global food supply, in competition with the fuel supply. Farmers (and corporate agriculture) in the U.S. took much of the corn crop to the refinery rather than to the food processing plants. Most of the food price increases seen in the U.S up until about a month ago were due solely to this shift. Globally this policy has increased grain costs, but the new push has also hit the global cooking oil supply. This switch from food (or even cooking oil) crops, to crops for fuel, result in both rainforests and existing fields falling to the more “profitable” crop - that which can be used for bio-fuels.

======================================================================

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to JMiller@bestcyrano.org

======================================================================
The global food supply is also being hit by a series of other blows. This includes the continued steep rise in the cost of oil, and climatic disasters.

China was hit hard this winter by horrendous storms in January and February of this year. Those storms hit heavily in Southern China, dramatically impacting the growing area. Poor harvests are among the factors that are creating a rice shortage which is hitting Asian nations hard. Rice prices have increased as much as 70% during the last year alone, The price has more than doubled since 2003.

Wheat crops from Russia to Africa are being hit by the deadly grain virus “rust.” If this spreads as currently predicted, it could hit the wheat region of India with devastating consequences.

The spread of the deadly virus, stem rust, against which an effective fungicide does not exist, comes as world grain stocks reach the lowest in four decades and government subsidized bio-ethanol production, especially in the United States, Brazil and the European Union, are taking land out of food production at alarming rates.

–Rust to fertilize food price surge

The fertile Ganges delta and Sundarban Islands (India and Bangladesh) are rapidly disappearing. This is largely due to the glacial melt from the Himalayas caused by global warming. Some of the Islanders have been displaced for each of the last three years, and daily they fight a losing battle against the rising waters (Guardian, 3/30/08). While the assumption in the U.S. is that fuel prices are driving increasing costs (at least partially true), it is food that is driving inflation in India. There was a 7% increase in food prices for the first three months of this year alone.

There are expectations that Asia and Africa face famines (or should we say increasing famine) from global warming.

The United States is not immune to the food catastrophe happening around the globe. Eckholm, writing in the NY Times reported that the confluence of a flagging economy and inflation are driving increased food stamp usage. Since only those near or below the poverty line are eligible for food stamps, growth of usage shows growth in this population. However, it under-represents the number of people who are struggling. The cost of everything is going up while wages remain stagnant (at best). While many folks may hold onto their jobs, the increasing costs are dramatically eroding incomes. We should look for dramatically increasing food bank usage as the various forces at play on the food supply continue to mount.

As much as half the population of the planet faces dangerously increasing food pressures. It is telling that riots regarding food prices are starting to occur (i.e. Egypt and Haiti). These type of events will likely increase. Unfortunately, while riots may result in governments applying some price controls, they will not affect food availability, and food availability is a very real issue in an expanding number of places. At this point, the big nations seem to be doing little if anything to address the growing global crisis. The United States, rather than acknowledging the impacts of bio-fuels incentives, expanded the programs again this year. It is very likely that corn prices may go up by over 50% this year.

Since corn is in almost everything in the U.S. food supply, then that cost will be directly felt come later this year. Of course, that increase will also effect the cost of fuels using corn-based fuels. There is no anticipation that oil prices are going to come down, nor that the economic recession is going to ease in the near future. Therefore this situation is likely to get worse before it gets better - if it gets better.

Further, the situation is complicated by shortfalls in food reserves. Nations have been strong armed by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to switch agricultural production from food for sustenance to commercially exportable crops. The expectation being that sustenance crops would come from outside the country (primarily the U.S. and Europe). This is one reason why changes in incentives and production in the United States have such devastating consequences on grain prices globally (Digiacomo, Bello).

The image of 3 billion people rioting for food will hopefully not become a reality. However, to avoid that scenario governments need to act now - not later. Hesitation or avoidance of the issues driving the growing food crisis will not make it go away. Some things are seen fairly immediately - dramatically increasing transportation costs for example. However, much of the current pricing and shortages are from last year. The situation has deteriorated since then, and certainly for the current and upcoming growing season. We need to get ahead of this problem, or it will hit with crushing affect come late summer to next winter.

Click HERE for the simulpost with Uncommon Thought with links to references and sources

Rowan Wolf, a senior contributing editor to Cyrano’s Journal, is a sociologist, teacher, writer and activist. Her areas of interest include social justice, environment, and globalization/corporatization at the core. She frequently writes where these issues intersect which takes her from empire and fascism, to civil liberties and politics, to the links between corporatization and genocide. Rowan was a member of the City of Portland’s Peak Oil Task Force, which submitted its efforts and recommendations to the City in February of 2007 (Descending the Oil Peak: navigating the transition from oil and natural gas). She also maintains her own site Uncommon Thought Journal, and may be reached by email at rowan@uncommonthought.com



Go to 13117
http://www.forward.com/articles/12998/
Dozens of Jewish Super-Delegates May Hold Key to Democratic Race
Campaign Marks a Communal Coming of Age in Party Politics

By Jennifer Siegel
Thu. Mar 20, 2008
According to a new survey conducted by the Forward, a disproportionately large share of the Democratic party’s super-delegates are Jewish. Many of them have declared their support for Hillary Clinton, accounting for more than 15% of her current backers.

Like the general population of super-delegates, whose support remains fluid, several Jewish supporters of the New York senator said in interviews that their votes still remain up for grabs. All told, more than 70 Jewish super-delegates will make the trip to Denver this summer for the Democrats’ nominating convention. They account for nearly one-tenth of the party’s nearly 800 so-called super-delegates, the informal term for elected and party officials whose status as delegates to the convention does not depend on state primaries and caucuses.

If the Democratic presidential primary comes down to a photo finish, these Jewish insiders could play an outsized role in anointing a nominee at the party’s August convention. And it would be a history-making experience: Although Jews have long been considered a formidable voting bloc and have been overrepresented among the country’s cadre of liberal activists and thinkers, they have only more recently become common as Democratic establishment insiders, with unprecedented numbers of both Jewish elected officials and party leaders.

“Politics in America has become a Jewish profession, just like arts and the law,” said Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council and the author of a book about Jews and American politics. “We now are overrepresented in all these areas.”

The relatively high number of Jews among super-delegates highlights a larger political shift that has occurred in recent decades, according to Forman. Although Jews have always been well represented on the American left, he said, historically they have tended to gravitate toward causes, such as the labor and civil rights movements, rather than active participation in party politics.

In the years since World War II, however, the number of Jewish politicians has grown significantly, with 33 Jewish members elected to Congress in 2006, up from 13 in 1950. In addition, over the past 15 years, the DNC has been led by three Jewish chairs — Americans for Peace Now head Debra DeLee; Massachusetts-based party activist Steve Grossman, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, all now backing Clinton — while the current chairman, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, is married to a Jewish woman and has raised his children as Jews. Of the DNC’s nine national officers, three are currently Jewish.

Susan Turnbull, who became a vice chair of the DNC in 2005, told the Forward that she has begun organizing get-togethers for Jewish DNC members at the party’s national meetings in recent years, and occasionally communicates via e-mail on issues of mutual concern, as when, several years ago, she was helping to pass a DNC resolution against divestment from Israel.

To compile a list of Jewish super-delegates, the Forward included elected officials and DNC members known by the paper to be Jewish. Turnbull identified additional Jewish DNC members, and the Forward’s list was vetted by the Clinton and Obama campaigns. This list may omit Jewish super-delegates whose religious affiliation is not widely known.

In the current presidential primary, the support of Jewish party insiders is particularly critical for Clinton, who won contests in New York, New Jersey and California and has pledged support from a preponderance of Jewish super-delegates in the Golden State and the Northeast — including nearly a dozen in her home state of New York.

In recent weeks, as Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has won more new super-delegates and snatched away some super-delegates who had previously committed to Clinton, Clinton’s backers have worked to shore up her existing support and counter the growing perception by many in the party that if Obama maintains his current lead in the popular vote, as well as in total states and delegates won, the super-delegates should fall in line behind him.

The super-delegates “were not selected by the national party to be either potted plants or rubber stamps,” wrote Grossman, a top fundraiser for Clinton, in an open letter he sent out earlier this month to DNC members. The letter urged those who are still uncommitted to suspend making a judgment in the race until all state contests are concluded in early June.

In an interview with the Forward, Grossman argued that if the result from the disputed Florida primary is counted, and Clinton performs strongly in upcoming primaries, the results of primary season would be inconclusive and it would be the responsibility of super-delegates to vote their conscience.

But despite the efforts to ensure their support in recent weeks, several Jewish super-delegates who are currently committed told the Forward that they were open to changing their vote.

“I’m on the horns of an emotional dilemma,” said June Fisher, 76, a member of the DNC from New Jersey who worked for several Democrats during a long career in politics and currently serves as a part-time special projects coordinator for Senator Bob Menendez. While Fisher originally endorsed Clinton after her initial choice, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, dropped out of the race, she said she was open to revisiting the decision — despite two phone calls from former president Bill Clinton, one in the past two weeks.

Rachel Binah, a longtime Democratic activist from northern California, said she committed to the New York senator after some “heavy arm-twisting,” which included phone calls from both Chelsea and Hillary Clinton. Binah explained her quandary a bit more bluntly.

“Anybody who had any sense wouldn’t have declared, and if I were smart, I wouldn’t have,” Binah told the Forward. “But how can you say no to the former first lady, and potentially the first woman president, who personally talks to you for 20 minutes on the phone?”



Go to 13116
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7335875.stm
UN expert stands by Nazi comments
By Tim Franks
BBC Middle East correspondent

Falk believes that Israel has been avoiding criticism
The next UN investigator into Israeli conduct in the occupied territories has stood by comments comparing Israeli actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis.

Speaking to the BBC, Professor Richard Falk said he believed that up to now Israel had been successful in avoiding the criticism that it was due.

Professor Falk is scheduled to take up his post for the UN Human Rights Council later in the year.

But Israel wants his mandate changed to probe Palestinian actions as well.

Professor Falk said he drew the comparison between the treatment of Palestinians with the Nazi record of collective atrocity, because of what he described as the massive Israeli punishment directed at the entire population of Gaza.

He said he understood that it was a provocative thing to say, but at the time, last summer, he had wanted to shake the American public from its torpor.


Israeli actions in Gaza are collective punishment, says Falk

"If this kind of situation had existed for instance in the manner in which China was dealing with Tibet or the Sudanese government was dealing with Darfur, I think there would be no reluctance to make that comparison," he said.

That reluctance was, he argued, based on the particular historical sensitivity of the Jewish people, and Israel's ability to avoid having their policies held up to international law and morality.

These and other comments from Professor Falk comments are, if anything, even harsher than the current UN investigator, John Dugard, who himself has been withering about Israel's actions.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Israel wanted the UN investigator's mandate changed, so that he could look into human rights violations by the Palestinians as well as Israel.

If that were not to happen, the Israeli government may consider barring entry to the new UN investigator.



Go to 13115
http://uruknet.info/?p=m42855&s1=h1
April 7, 2008: 5 US Soldiers, 51 Iraqis Killed; 143 Iraqis Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki set aside any pretense of democracy by ordering the Mahdi army to disband or face banishment in upcoming elections. At least 51 Iraqis were killed and 143 more were wounded today. Also, five more American soldiers were killed.

One American soldier was killed by an IED during a routine road clearing operation in Baghdad yesterday. A second soldier died in a previously reported attack in Diyala province. Another soldier had died in that attack and four soldiers were wounded as well. Today, two American soldiers were killed in Baghdad in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, while a third U.S. soldier was killed in an IED explosion.

Prime Minister Al-Maliki has become increasing desperate to demolish the power base of political rival al-Sadr, who at first supported the minister. Two weeks ago al-Maliki imposed a security crackdown in Basra that many analysts believe was merely an attempt to destroy the Sadrist power base ahead of elections. The crackdown backfired on al-Maliki who was forced to accept a truce. The Mahdi army had been observing a seven-month-long ceasefire when al-Maliki ordered Iraqi security forces to target them.

Now al-Maliki has ordered the Mahdi army, who are followers of al-Sadr, to disband or the Sadrists will be barred from these same elections. The Sadrists boycotted the last elections, but their participation this time could spell the end of the al-Maliki government. Al-Maliki will have to push special legislation through Parliament to prevent Sadrist participation. Earlier reports said that al-Sadr is seeking a ruling from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani before proceeding further, but a spokesman later denied those reports.

Meanwhile, the fighting continues in Baghdad where U.S. forces are trying to prevent more attacks on the international Green Zone. Overnight, nine people were killed and 60 others were wounded during sporadic gunfire and shelling. Hellfire missiles and other explosive devices were dropped from U.S. aircraft onto Sadr City and New Baghdad. A helicopter strike today killed four people and wounded five in Sadr City. Several mortars shells were lobbed at the Green Zone, but a pair which fell in Karrada instead injured two people.

In other incidents, four dumped bodies were recovered. Mortars wounded two people at a sports club on Palestine Street. In New Baghdad, five people were wounded during a roadside bombing. Ten people were wounded in Zayouna after a roadside bombing there. Mortars wounded three people in Hay Ur. A missile strike killed nine and injured 30 in Amin. Also, one Iraqi security member was killed and 12 others were wounded during operations.

In Basra, an explosion of unknown origin killed eight people. An Interior Ministry spokesman survived an assassination attempt that left four bodyguards wounded after a roadside bomb blast hit their convoy. Also, seven bodies were turned over to the morgue.

In Mosul, a roadside bomb wounded two policemen and a girl. Two people were injured during a mortar attack.

A drive-by shooting left a city council member dead in Samarra.

In Duluiya, U.S. forces stormed a home with a masked man. After the man identifed a 65-year-old man and his son, they were supposedly shot to death.

A roadside bomb in Buhriz killed one Iraqi Army officer and wounded five others.

The Iraqi army killed five suspects and detained 58 others across Iraq.



Go to 13114
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080407/103957109.html
Iran proposes missile shield against U.S., Israel
19:01 | 07/ 04/ 2008

TEHRAN, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's defense minister said on Monday the world needs a missile shield to protect against threats from Israel and the United States.

Tehran has joined Russia in opposing U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Central Europe to counter possible strikes from "rogue states," specifically Iran.

"If the world needs an anti-missile shield, it must be used to counter missiles and the nuclear menace coming from the U.S. and Israel, which directly or indirectly threaten different countries with aggression and war," Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said.

The minister said U.S. claims that the European missile shield would defend against Iran's missiles were nothing but a sham.

"Our country's missile arsenal is purely defense-oriented and is only a threat to aggressors," the minister said.

Washington plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland in addition to installing radars in the Czech Republic. The ten missiles in Poland could be placed on duty by 2013.

Najjar said Tehran was open to cooperation with every country except Israel, which Iran does not recognize, to ensure stability and security in the Middle East.



Go to 13113
http://www.rense.com/general42/overthth.htm
The Overthrow Of
The American Republic
Part 40
Coming Storm? U.S., Mexico, Iraq?
by Sherman H. Skolnick
9-29-3

Sensible Americans take it as a given. That the oil-soaked, spy-riddled American monopoly press simply cannot tell us the truth. About Iraq, about the murder of President Kennedy, and a lot of other issues. The mouthpieces of "the powers that be", the Ruling Class---in short THEM---are shackled to the Establishment's outrageous if not cruel BIG LIE agenda.

Confronting the U.S. Supreme Court and one step below it, the Chicago Federal Appeals Court, is a Motion detailing Fraud Upon Those Courts perpetrated by the Judges themselves. These facts revolve around a mammoth fraud involving Coca-Cola Company, the American CIA, and the Courts, overlapping onto the litigation of the high court called Bush versus Gore. That is, the Five-Judge, Military-Style Junta in Washington, that under a malign and corrupt influence, arbitrarily installed George W. Bush as the occupant and resident of the White House. The duly elected President, Albert Gore, Jr., was simply not INAUGURATED.

[Visit "Coca-Cola, the CIA, and the Courts", Part 9, on various websites, such as archived on
www.rense.com and on www.cloakanddagger.ca Attached to the same are the court-filed papers.]

More details necessary to be understood:

[1] As detailed in the Motion, cocaine is a by-product of the processing, within the U.S., of huge amounts of coca leaves for the production of the secret base of Coca-Cola. Reportedly tied into the "leakage" of cocaine, within the U.S., into non-legal channels are top-level U.S. judges and members of the Bush Crime Family. Plainly, some of the cocaine snorted in the U.S., even by Judges themselves, is NOT smuggled in from somewhere else, outside the U.S., such as Columbia.

[2] Those in law enforcement contend that tied to the Coca-Cola, CIA, Courts, cocaine mess, is Vicente Fox, President of Mexico. He headed Coca-Cola of Mexico and had a dominating, if not having even now a continuing role, as to Coca-Cola in most of Latin America, south of the United States.

Fox is implicated, say those in a position to know, in the BIG FIX in Bush versus Gore litigation in the high court. And in various ways, he is tied to those judges in the Coca-Cola litigation, acting under a mlaign if not corrupt influence. Judges obligated by law to divulge their financial relationship to Fox, Coca-Cola, and such, but do NOT show the same on their mandatory annual judicial financial disclosure forms required to be signed by the judges subject to the penalties of perjury..

[3] Mexico President Fox has, on and off the record, made serious demands for concessions, favoring Mexico, from the George W. Bush White House. Some legal scholars assert that some of those arm-twistings border on being, if not actually, unlawful and unconstitutional. That illegal Mexicans in the U.S. be permitted to prevail on U.S. authorities with documents, issued within the U.S., by Mexican officials officed in the U.S. That such otherwise undocumented persons be issued state drivers licenses. That they collect U.S. Social Security, Medicare, and other U.S. and state benefits, the same as U.S. citizens.

[4] Beyond that, Fox is demanding of the Bush White House guarantees as to Mexico and Fox, that Mexico have certain rights as to southern California, New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of Texas. Not identical---would they blatantly dare?---but similar to those areas being somehow returned or annexed to Mexico, nullifying and reversing the results of past wars between the U.S. and Mexico, which would be unconstitutional and beyond the Bush White House authority.

[5] As a horrendous blackmail and diversion, Fox and company are threatening to steer up a big Texas secret, just to trouble Americans who may oppose the demands of Fox/Mexico. Texas was the only territory that entered the Union with provisions. Texas, through their State Legislature, has been granted the proviso, that they can, if they so wish, divide Texas into five separate states, each with Two U.S. Senators to sit in the U.S. Senate. The power to do so has for generations been quietly carried over, from session to session of the Texas State Assembly. It is a legal political nuclear bomb that can be triggered off, at any time, or more openly referred to, by way of strong-arming certain positions.

[6] Another big whisper, fearful to the newsfakers, is about how those sneaking over the border into the U.S. have been used for America's Imperialistic designs. A sizeable number coming across the deserts and the Rio Grande, have been grabbed, sent to U.S. Military boot camp, and make up part of the U.S. forces in Iraq. They do not speak English and are difficult to supervise. When these "grunts" are killed in fire-fights and such with Iraqis and others who oppose U.S. as foreign invaders, or die from accidents or illness in Iraq; their bodies are NOT returned to the U.S., or, for that matter, to Mexico. These "U.S. Troops" are buried in mass graves in Iraq, and no count kept or officially revealed as to how many perished.

A documentary maker, apparently uncovering the mass graves of "U.S. troops" and this terrible secret, was ordered reportedly to be murdered by U.S. Special Forces or similar teams, and explained away as an "accident".

FOX, and company, IF HE RUNS HIS BIG MOUTH, CAN CERTAINLY TROUBLE BUSH ABOUT THE "GREEN CARD SOLDIERS".

[7] If there is a Presidential Election in 2004 in the usual way, George W. Bush may have a problem. Remember, in advance of the 2000 Presidential Election, I stated on numerous radio talk shows and on-line, that the then upcoming Election may not be conducted in the expected, usual way, if at all. The same may true as to 2004.

Can Bush call up enough Reserves to fulfill the Aristocracy's requirements as to safeguarding the oilfields in Iraq? If not, would Bush dare order a Draft of Men and Women, to send them as Military to Iraq?

An alternative would be a secret pact with Fox and company, to arange more, great numbers of U.S. "Green Card Soldiers". That is, dragoon sizeable numbers of young Mexicans and other Latin Americans, coming across the border, and hustle them into the U.S. Military, and then, swiftly off to Iraq as "throwaway soldiers", expendables, not to be noted, counted, nor their dead bodies returned to the U.S/Mexico. Or, if wounded, shipped where?

Obvious to most, is that pulling out all U.S. Military from Iraq, and returning them to the U.S. in possible dishonor, most likely would destroy the Bush White House and Overthrow the American Republic.

[8] I have described George W. Bush as an incompetent who pisses on his own shoes, to put it crudely. Would Bush dare rattle the chains of Fox as corruptly linked to the looming scandal of the bribery of some of the Judges on the highest tribunal in the nation, jointly overlapping the corruption of the Judges of the Chicago Federal Appeals Court? All swirling around the malign, corrupt influence in the litigation known as Bush versus Gore?

Bush may thus knock down Fox and his demands. BUT, then further revealed would be the corrupt way Bush was installed by the malign influence on the Five-Judge majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.

It would be an understatement to say Vicente Fox merely sleeps with the corrupt Judges, Chicago and Washington, outlined in the court-filed Motion. Fox seems plainly to be implicated with the Fraud Upon those courts perpetrated by the Judges themselves along with their co-conspirators.

Fox and Bush are together in a box. For them, there is no way out.



Go to 13112
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?id=8274
The Truth About Fusion Centers Will Blow Your Mind
From A Reader – Sunday, 23 March 2008

Imagine that somewhere close to your local community there exists a secret computer center. Equipped with powerful mainframe computers and the database integrating powers of XML, this government-funded facility gathers data from thousands of sources including local, state and federal law enforcement, social welfare agencies, hospitals, banks, telephone companies, ISPs, computer search engines, private security companies, schools--essentially an endless list. With its massive computing power, this secret outpost is able to search and sift this data using vaguely defined criteria like "suspicious activity" in order to identify individuals for even closer scrutiny. Finally, this computer center dispenses the results of its analyses to local, state and federal law enforcement and to the military so that they can take action against the citizens tagged as threats.

Such a scenario is no longer the product of a paranoid, over-stimulated imagination. It is a reality called "fusion centers," forty of which have been established throughout the United States. Initially part of the "Total Information Awareness" (TIA) program headed by Bush buddy and Iran-Contra convict Admiral John Poindexter, fusion centers suffered a setback when Congress de-funded TIA back in 2003 because of privacy and civil liberties concerns. But an idea that grabs so much government power at the expense of its citizens' privacy always has a phoenix-like ability to resurrect itself, and so the fusion center initiative has been reborn under the Department of Homeland Security's "Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative" and been provided with $380 million in funding for 40 installations throughout the country.

These fusion centers are usually located deep in the bowels of some state law enforcement agency (you can find your local one using this map). All forty coordinate and share data with each other, but no single agency, Congressional or otherwise, has oversight authority over them.

Civil liberties organizations like the ACLU and the Electronic Privacy Information Center see the fusion centers as a huge threat to privacy and even democracy. They thought they had been successful in stopping such a massive data gathering initiative when TIA was defunded, but today, there are forty fusion centers up and operating in the United States.

Why should you care if you aren't planning to crash some airlines into skyscrapers? Think for a moment about how fusion centers operate.

Say that you're planning to have a neighborhood get together. You head to the local supermarket and pick up a few of those big pork and beans cans and plenty of bottled water and soft drinks. Of course, you give the clerk your shopper card to save a few bucks. The record of your purchase heads to the supermarket's central database which they have patriotically agreed to share with the local fusion center. The out-of-the-ordinary purchase is flagged because the government is on the lookout for survivalist types who are stocking up for Doomsday and thus violating anti-hoading laws. Your bottled water purchase is cross-checked against other records, and the following turns up:

· recent ammunition purchase made with a credit card (for a quail hunting outing, but they don't know that)

· unusually large cash withdrawal of $3,000 (for buyng your neighbor's used car for your kid)

· visits to "questionable" political web sites like the one where you're reading this (information courtesy of your ISP)

The fusion center computer is now in a frenzy because of the obvious threat you pose to national security. Thanks to the kind of speed that $380 million can purchase, it spits out your name and address just in time for the heavily armed SWAT team to show up at your barbecue. Seriously, anyone who doesn't think that all this unsupervised information collecting poses no threat to democracy needs only to remember those government employees poking through Barack Obama's passport records to understand what fusion centers could mean for democracy.

The sad fact is that no one is going to shut these fusion centers down in the forseeable future. The best we can do is to cut their access to our information by practicing good personal privacy habits. Don't use that supermarket card or a credit card when you make purchases. Guard your privacy against ISPs and search engines by using an elite proxy or VPN. Encrypt your email."



Go to 13111
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=8354
Israel's Tehran connection
Richard Silverstein – Guardian via uruknet.info April 4, 2008

If you've ever wondered about the definition of hypocrisy you'll find the answer right here.

Last month the Swiss foreign minister visited Iran and, together with President Ahmadinejad, attended the signing of a multi-billion euro contract for Iran to supply Switzerland with large amounts of natural gas over the next 25 years.

The US State Department immediately condemned the deal and said it would be investigating whether it breached the Iran Sanctions Act. Israel complained too, describing the Swiss minister's visit to Tehran as an "act unfriendly to Israel". Various Jewish groups also joined in the protests, including the World Jewish Congress.

This righteous indignation was entirely predictable but more than a little odd nevertheless. On March 30, the Swiss newspaper Sonntag retaliated with the revelation that Israel, supposedly observing an ironclad boycott of all things Iranian, has been buying Iranian oil for years.

The story is in German but Israeli journalist Shraga Elam has provided me with a translation which I'll quote from here.

"Israel imports Iranian oil on a large scale even though contacts with Iran and purchasing of its products are officially boycotted by Israel. Israel gets around the boycott by having the oil delivered via Europe. A reliable Israeli energy newsletter, EnergiaNews, reported this last week [March 18] ...

"EnergiaNews got the information about the Iran trade from sources with ties to the management of Israeli Oil Refineries Ltd ... According to EnergiaNews the Iranian oil is liked in Israel because its quality is better than other crude oils.

"The report by EnergiaNews editor Moshe Shalev states that the Iranian oil reaches various European ports, mainly in Rotterdam. It is bought by Israelis and the necessary European bill of lading and insurance papers are supplied. Then it is transported to Haifa in Israel. The importer is the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co (EAPC), which keeps its oil sources secret."

EAPC was established in 1968 as a joint Israeli-Iranian company to transport oil from Iran to Europe. After the fall of the Shah, Iran ceased to play an active role in its affairs and there are ongoing legal disputes between the two partners.

The Swiss report continued:

"It is not clear if the Iranian exporters know about Israeli purchases of their oil. At the other end, the Israeli buyers and governmental offices are well aware of where the high-grade oil comes from, although it is a blatant defiance of the boycott. The EnergiaNews article even made it through Israeli censorship, which asked only for some changes in the text. The fact that the report cleared the censors increases the credibility of the information. In the past, such reports were forbidden.

"When questioned by Sonntag, an energy expert of one of the leading Israeli papers confirmed the EnergiaNews report: Israel has been importing Iranian oil for many years. The expert stressed, however, that the purchases were made on the free market and not directly from Iran."

Sonntag quoted a spokesman for Oil Refineries Ltd as denying that his company imports and processes Iranian oil. However, Sonntag pointed to a report in Haaretz newspaper last October which said that an Israeli energy company called Paz would be refining Iranian oil and supplying it to the Palestinian Authority from the start of this year.

This begs the question: if Iran is, as Bibi Netanyahu argues, an existential threat to Israel, why does the government allow such trade? Would Israel have the US attack Iran's nuclear programme and provoke a potential region-wide conflict while it cannot seem to wean itself from high quality Iranian crude? You'd think if Israelis are cowering in fear from an Iranian bomb and the arch antisemite Ahmadinejad, they wouldn't want to trade with such an enemy.

When is a boycott not a boycott? When it's in your naked economic interest to circumvent it, apparently. But one should ask: if Israel doesn't honour its self-declared boycott of Iran, why should the rest of the world honour its boycott of Hamas and Gaza? If Israel doesn't honour its own boycott, then why should members of Congress vote with AIPAC when it proposes a measure that even Israel honours only in the breach?

It's interesting to note from a discussion (in Hebrew) on the Kedma website that Israel does not formally define Iran as an "enemy nation" and therefore in a strictly legal sense such trade is permissible. Ironically, Iran too has a boycott against Israel in place and is violating its own measures in that regard. Furthermore, the same commenter notes that Israel last week dismissed attempts to engage Syria in a diplomatic process as a failure because Syria refuses to renounce its ties with Iran. Do I hear the word "hypocrisy"?
www.uruknet.org/?p=m42737&hd=&size=1&l=e



Go to 13110
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=8368
Iranian president wants OPEC off dollars
Associated Press – April 6, 2008

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is urging OPEC members to form a joint bank and stop pricing oil trades in U.S. dollars.

According to the Iranian government's Web site, Ahmadinejad told OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri the cartel "should establish a joint bank as well as having joint currency."

Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market, and the currency's depreciation has concerned producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and eroded the value of their dollar reserves.

Iran has repeatedly urged OPEC members to shift sales away from dollar. But Iran's proposal to trade oil in a basket of currencies is not supported by enough OPEC members, which include staunch U.S. allies such as leading producer Saudi Arabia.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23983919/



Go to 13109
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080403/ap_on_re_us/prisoners_early_release
States may free inmates to save millions
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 3, 7:21 PM ET

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Lawmakers from California to Kentucky are trying to save money with a drastic and potentially dangerous budget-cutting proposal: releasing tens of thousands of convicts from prison, including drug addicts, thieves and even violent criminals.

Officials acknowledge that the idea carries risks, but they say they have no choice because of huge budget gaps brought on by the slumping economy.

"If we don't find a way to better manage the population at the state prison, we will be forced to spend money to expand the state's prison system — money we don't have," said Jeff Neal, a spokesman for Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri.

At least eight states are considering freeing inmates or sending some convicts to rehabilitation programs instead of prison, according to an Associated Press analysis of legislative proposals. If adopted, the early release programs could save an estimated $450 million in California and Kentucky alone.

A Rhode Island proposal would allow inmates to deduct up to 12 days from their sentence for every month they follow rules and work in prison. Even some violent offenders would be eligible but not those serving life sentences.

A plan in Mississippi would offer early parole for people convicted of selling marijuana or prescription drugs. New Jersey, South Carolina and Vermont are considering funneling drug-addicted offenders into treatment, which is cheaper than prison.

The prospect of financial savings offers little comfort to Tori-Lynn Heaton, a police officer in a suburb of Providence whose ex-husband went to prison for beating her. He has already finished his prison term, but would have been eligible for early release under the current proposal.

"You're talking about victim safety. You're talking about community member safety," she said. "You can't balance the budget on the backs of victims of crimes."

But prisons "are one of the most expensive parts of the criminal-justice system," said Alison Lawrence, who studies corrections policy for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "That's where they look to first to cut down some of those costs."

Rhode Island Corrections Director A.T. Wall was not sure how many prisoners could be freed early. The payoff for doing so may be relatively small: less than $1 million for the first fiscal year, although that figure would increase over time.

In California, where lawmakers have taken steps to cut a $16 billion budget deficit in half by summer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed saving $400 million by releasing more than 22,000 inmates who had less than 20 months remaining on their sentences. Violent and sex offenders would not be eligible.

Laying off prison guards and making it more difficult to send parole violators back to state prison would account for part of the savings.

Law enforcement officials and Republican lawmakers immediately criticized Schwarzenegger's proposal, which would apply to car thieves, forgers, drunken drivers and some drug dealers. Some would never serve prison time because the standard sentence for those crimes is 20 months or less.

"To open the prison door and release prisoners back into communities is merely placing a state burden onto local governments and will ultimately jeopardize safety in communities," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, who could see 1,800 inmates released in his area.

In Kentucky, which faces a $1.3 billion deficit, lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday to grant early release to some prisoners. Initial estimates were that the plan could affect as many as 2,000 inmates and save nearly $50 million.

If the governor signs the bill, the exact number of prisoners would be determined by prison officials. Violent convicts and sexual offenders would be exempt.

Gov. Steve Beshear has said Kentucky must review its policies after the state's inmate population jumped 12 percent last year — the largest increase in the nation.

Kentucky spends more than $18,600 to house one inmate for a year, or roughly $51 a day. In California, each inmate costs an average of $46,104 to incarcerate.

The prison budget in Mississippi has nearly tripled since stricter sentencing laws took effect in 1994.

To curb spending, lawmakers have offered a bill to make about 7,000 drug offenders in prison eligible for parole. A second proposal would allow the parole board to release inmates convicted of selling marijuana and prescription drugs after serving just a quarter of their sentences. Currently, they must serve 85 percent of their terms before release.

Michigan is trying to speed up the parole process for about 3,500 inmates who were convicted of nonviolent, nonsexual offenses, or who are seriously ill.

Barbara Sampson, chairwoman of the Michigan Parole Board, said early release often makes sense, especially for low-risk offenders who get help rebuilding their lives.

"Getting that prisoner back to the community so that he can stay connected to his family, getting him back into the work force ... that's a positive thing," she said.

But not everyone is sold on the idea.

"Economics cannot be the engine that drives the train of public safety," said Terrence Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association. "Government has no greater responsibility than the protection of its citizens."


Associated Press writers Don Thompson in Sacramento, Calif.; Roger Alford in Frankfort., Ky.; Ron Harrist in Jackson, Miss.; Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt.; Brad Haynes in Trenton, N.J.; and David Eggert in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.


Go to 13108
http://www.elandar.com/bush/amigos.html
Ernie and Roy Barrera campaigned for President Bush in 1992, and they celebrated what looked like an easy re-election with George W at a “Super Tuesday” rally for the Texas primary. Ancira also thought he was a shoo-in in his run for the state senate, especially when both Bushes came out to campaign for him. George W. optimistically greeted Ernie as “Mr. Senator” well before the election took place.

But Ernesto and President Bush lost on the same depressing day in November, 1992 — Ancira lost the state senate and Bush, the presidency of the United States.

1994 was a turbulent year for the Grupo Texano. Things happened quickly, and so dramatically that the scene was brutal, intoxicating. NAFTA, the jewel in the crown of all involved, from Salinas to the Bushes to Mosbacher to the Anciras, became reality on January first. The same day, Zapatista rebels declared war on the Mexican government, followed by bloody massacres and international outcry. By fall Mexico had suffered the assassinations of Colosio and Ruiz Massieu. Ernesto Zedillo — a Yale man just like the Bushes — was elected President. Then the peso collapsed. Lucky for them, most of Mexico’s wealthy class had already put their money into dollar-based investments — such as San Antonio real estate. So things were looking up, especially after George W. was elected.

The Bush for Governor campaign was easy. The Amigos de Bush — W’s Latino support group — rallied heavily for their man. Bush’s people were elated that he had garnered 29 percent of the Latino vote, approaching the record 38 percent Roy Barrera had earned in his bid for state attorney general. Back in that 1986 race, both Bushes had stumped for Barrera, holding “Voy Con Roy” barbecue fundraisers and rallies. In ‘94, Roy was more than happy to return the favor and celebrate George W’s victory, and especially his coup with the Hispanic vote. After all, Roy and the “Amigos” helped him win it.

Ancira, another “Amigo de Bush,” was feeling good, too. He was rewarded with two Bush appointments: first to the Texas State Workers Comp Board, then to a coveted advisory board position at the University of Texas School of Business. George W.’s influential friend James Leininger gave Ernie a board position in his new conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Almost immediately, Governor Bush had to tackle a problem presented by Ernesto’s young cousins from Mexico. The Anciras had teamed up with an old school chum, pharmaceutical heir Xavier Autrey, during President Salinas’s privatization free-for-all of the late 1980s. The “A” kids maneuvered six million dollars of other peoples’ money into billions, buying up mining and energy companies, as well as Mexico’s largest steel company, Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA). Soon their companies were accused of being fronts for the drug trade, and were described as such by analyst R.C. Whalen at a 1993 US congressional hearing. Together with a secretive binational strip-mining operation called Dos Republicas, the Anciras tried to get a Tex-Mex energy deal going by re-vamping a decrepit coal-burning power plant on the border, named Carbon II. They convinced the World Bank, Citibank and Southern California Edison to invest over $250 million in the project. It was a disaster.

The Anciras’ reputation sank as fast as a rust-eaten bucket, and partners and investors began to look for ways out. The Ancira family was accused by shareholders of wasting extraordinary amounts of money on corporate jets, limousines and other luxuries. Not to mention their extensive purchases of San Antonio real estate. Just last year, while the company amassed nearly $2 billion in debt and had to suspend payments, the Anciras began quietly moving property titles to Cayman Island holding companies, with the help of their front man Marcelo Sánchez.

Carbon II should have been the kind of project Governor Bush would have embraced: a model energy venture between Mexico and the US. But as environmentalists’ complaints about air pollution grew louder, Bush’s comments grew guarded. By the time of the project’s final demise in 1995 — due to mismanagement as well as the fact that its approval by Salinas had been blatantly illegal — Bush was given credit for heeding environmental concerns.

By the time his 1998 re-election rolled around, W was already said to be working on his run for the White House, and in Texas he once again relied on the Latino vote. He was also working to strengthen energy ties with Mexico. That fall, he held a press conference with Mexico’s Secretary of Energy Luis Téllez. Together they promised a new era in which Texas and Mexico would essentially erase the border and create a “common market” for gas and electricity production and consumption, as well as an integrated electrical network.

One month later, with help from the Amigos de Bush, George W. surpassed Roy Barrera’s record and pulled in a hefty 39 to 49 percent of the Latino vote. He won in a landslide. He was already counting on the Republican presidential nomination.



Still Running with Wolves

It’s been a wild ride since the 1989 White House dinner. Bush Sr. lost the presidency, and he and his wife Barbara are now campaigning for their son. Carlos Salinas is self-exiled in Ireland and Cuba. His brother Raúl is in prison.

This year, Roy Barrera Jr. is on the campaign trail with W. He has “rumbled,” say the papers, about running for governor. But the shadow of past relationships continues to haunt him.

Last year, Barrera Jr. landed in the hot seat. He represented millionaire Allan Blackthorne after the contract-style murder of Blackthorne’s ex-wife, Sheila Bellush. The case made national headlines because Bellush was stabbed to death in front of her toddler quadruplets, and they crawled in her blood until they were found.

The hit man, José Del Toro, fled to Mexico and was represented by none other than Barrera’s old Gulf cartel client, the prestigious office of Enrique Fuentes León. Barrera was dropped as Blackthorne’s lawyer, and the US Justice Department began investigating who paid Del Toro’s presumably high-priced legal bills. Del Toro said, in a taped interview, that he was told by his U.S. lawyer that Barrera had hired Fuentes León. Roy’s father admits that the Barreras and the Fuentes León family have remained close through the years. The Justice Department’s findings have not been revealed.

Roy Barrera, however, is rumored in the press to be hoping for a ride with W. to Washington, his eye on a cabinet position. Bush aides say it’s premature to talk about it, but Texas is all a-buzz with murmurs.


ERNESTO ANCIRA’S car dealership is expected to top $600 million in sales this year. Ancira was one of the first to donate to Bush’s presidential exploratory committee, but lately has remained behind the scenes. Surprisingly, the Republic National Committee and Bush campaign people in charge of Hispanic outreach say they’ve never heard of Ancira. “He must be very grass roots,” a spokesperson told me.

Well, not exactly.

Ernie can’t stop getting involved with guys who get in trouble. He’s now one of the “heavy hitters” paying $1,000 each to host a September fundraiser for State Senator Frank Madla, who is under investigation by a federal grand jury. Apparently Madla accepted inappropriate favors from Eddie “The Bingo King” García, murdered in 1998 in what prosecutors called a contract hit.

The Ancira name surfaced again in August when former Mexico City mayor Oscar Espinosa became a fugitive, under an arrest warrant for embezzling $45 million of the people’s money. Mexican newspapers reported he was last seen under the protection of armed guards, provided by the Anciras in their company town in Coahuila.

Gus García’s patron Anuar Name has been named by Mexican law enforcement as the business partner of a ex-governor running from charges of taking Juárez cartel payoffs.


RIGHT AFTER MEXICO’S July elections, some members of the winning PAN party have clamored for the country to re-open investigations into the assassination of Ruiz Massieu and Muñoz Rocha’s activities in San Antonio. Private investigator J. Alberto Villasana told the PAN president in a July 15 letter, “I believe that since Fox and the PAN have won, we should be aware of a very delicate matter: we will soon be facing binational criminal groups to which the previous administrations have been accomplices.”

In Mexico today, there is a changing of the guard. But president-elect Vicente Fox has made it clear that the trend toward massive privatization of industries will continue at full speed — even Robert Mosbacher has hinted he’d like the national oil company Pemex to hurry up and privatize, and he might like a job there, too.

If he is elected, Bush has promised there will be a “special relationship” with Mexico. In his family, the special relationship has long been there.

So — goes the logic — if Ernie has a few unpleasant friends and partners, what of it? Ditto for Bush’s self-proclaimed “representative,” Roy Barrera. As long as he hasn’t touched the dirty goods himself, Bush has been able to benefit from these men’s vote-winning and trade-promoting influence. Does this make Bush guilty by association? If he didn’t know about their cartel connections, probably not. (I called his campaign office and asked if the Governor knew about these relationships, and did not receive a response by press time.) But the question has to be asked: if some of us far outside of the Bush camp know about those connections, how come Bush didn’t?

George W. Bush has made his lust for the Latino vote clear. “If you say a million, I want you to spend two million. If you say you need four million, I want you to spend eight,” W told Lionel Sosa, head of the Bush Latino media campaigns.

What is not clear is who Bush will be willing to consort with to earn that vote. And, if he wins the presidency, what is the true nature of the special relationship he will forge between our two nations, the US and Mexico, in the coming years?

Julia Reynolds is the editorial director of El Andar.



Use your Go Back and Go Forward commands to get to where you were in a previous file.